Method and apparatus for weighing and packaging material



Aug. 18, 1936. E. A. MARSH ET AL 2,051,555

METHOD AND AIfP ARATUS FOR WEIGHING AND PACKAGING MATERIAL Filed June22, 1931 8 Sheets-Emu, 1

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7/5 F l H I 1 I Zlwuemtoqi Es/i A. Mans/1 Alf/"ed M. jcb/mye/ dummy.

Aug. 18, 1936. E. A, MARSH ET AL METHOD AND API ARATUS FOR WEIGHING ANDPACKAGING MATERIAL Filed June 22, 1931 a Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 2. Fig.3.37 0 Q p Q Q 32 a: N9 c3 EsI/ A. Mara/1 A/frqa M 6c/7/ae e/ Aug. 18,,1936- V E. A. MARSH ET AL 2,051,565 I METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WEIGHINGAND PACKAGING MATERIAL Filed June 22, 1931 s Sheets-Sheet s\Illllllillllllllllfllll" gwuwntoc Es/l A. Mans/z A/f/"ed M. Jch/aeye/Aug. 18, 1936. E. A. MARSH ET AL 2,051,565

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WEIGHING AND PACKAGING MATERIAL Filed June 22,1931 8 Sheets-Sheet- 4 Fig 7.

3M0 Es/i A. Maris/1 Alfred M 56/7/6696] (9W a @M Aug. 18, 1936. E.A.'MARSH T AL 2,051,565

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WEIGHI NG AND PACKAGING MATERIAL E. A. MARSH ETAL 2,051,565

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WEIGHlNG AND PACKAGING MATERIAL Aug. 18, 19360a Sheets-Sht 6 Filed June 22, 1951 Es// A. Mans/1 1936- E. A. MARSH ETAL 51,565

METHOD AND.APPARATUS FOR WE-I'GHING AND PACKAGING MATERIAL.

F iled June 22,1931 gs Shets-Sheet 7 INVENTOh Es/l' A. Mars h Al vcl M.schlao l fly q ATTORNEY5 Aug. 18, 1936. E. A. MARSH El AL 2,051,565

, METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WEIGHING AND PACKAGING MATERIAL Filed June22, 1931 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Fm Fig.19.

O jmntow 2 3 E5//' ,4. Mara/1 Ayred/ ZJc/I/aeyel dm s Patented Aug. 18,1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Ball A. Marsh and Alfred N. Y.,assignors to St.

Max Schlaegel, Oswego, Reds Paper Company,

New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 22, 1931,Serial No. 546,004 15 Claims. (Cl. 249-60) This invention relates toweighing and packaging material, and more particularly granular orpulverulentmaterial, such as flour, which is capable of being compactedinto a pressed column which will retain its shape against gravity, butcan be readilydisintegrated into its original condition.

An object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus wherebycharges of maierial of the kind described can be accurately weighedoutand then completely packed into packages, and more particularly intovalve bags.

Another object of the invention is to feed material of the kinddescribed into a weighing device in such a way that the feed issubstantially constant and may be cut oil for successive charges withoutvarying the weight of the charges.

Another object of the invention isto provide apparatus fbr packaging theweighed charges into bags and so connecting this apparatus to thepreweighing device that under normal operations the weighing device isoperating continuously, but will be automatically stopped at any time apackage is not in position to receive the weighed charge.

Another object of the invention is 'to insert the material into a bag orother package in compacted form and to jig the packagesuf- .ficiently todisintegrate the compacted forms of material dropped therein and tocompletely fill the package. a

Another object of the invention is to support and jig the bottom of abag in such a way that the bottom corners of a gusseted bag will beproperly opened up and completely filled. De-

tails of the invention and other minor objects will be disclosed as thedescription proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings fprming a part of this speciflcation---Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus embodying one form of theinvention;

Figure 2 is an elevation of the apparatus viewed .from the left of Fig.1;

Figure 3 is an elevation of the apparatus viewed from the right of Fig.1 and showing parts broken away; I

Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevation 'of the scale feeding portion ofthe apparatus with parts broken away; I

Figure 5 is a longitudinal vertical section of the scale feeding portionof the apparatus:

' Figure 6 is a section of the scale feeding spout on line 6-6 of Fig.5;

Figure 7 is an enlarged side elevation of the weighing mechanism andcut-oil gate, parts being in section;

Figure 8 is a detail section showing the cut-oil gate in a diilerentposition from that in which it is shown in Fig. '7; l

Figure 9 is a longitudinai'section oi the driving clutch mechanism fordriving the scale feed;

Figure 10 isa longitudinal section through the package feeding device;

Figure 11 is a side elevation showing the oper- 10 ating means for thescale feeding clutch, parts being removed for purposes of illustration;

Figure 12 isan elevation viewed from the right of Fig. 11;

Figure 13 is a detail side elevation of a portion of the drivemechanism;

, Figure 14 is an elevation viewed from the right of Fig. 13;

- Figures 15 and 16 are sections on the lines 5-l5 and IB-lirespectively of Fig. 13; 2

Figure 17 is a section-on the line ll-ll of Fig. 14; Y Y

Figure 18 is a section of the iigger drive mechanism on the line I B-IBof Figs. 1 and 19;

Figure 19 is a section on the finals-l9 of Fig. 18;

Figure 20 is a section on the line 20-20 of Fig- 19.

Fig. 21 is a detail view of a bag clamp connected to the tripping rod.-3 0 Fig. 22 is a detail showing the switch-closing echanism operated bythe weighing device.

-The apparatus shown in the accompanying I drawings comprises acompacting'and feeding device A which feeds material to an automaticweighing device B which in turn discharges weighed material past aswitching device C to bag fillingmeans D. There is also shown asupporting and jigging device E for the bottoms of bags while they arebeing filled. These parts of the mechanism will be described in detailin the order mentioned.

The detail construction of the scale feeding mechanism is shown in Figs.4 and 5 There is a spout 25 leading from any suitable source of supplyand directing material into the hopper 26 of the scale feeding device.This device is provided with two parallel screws and in the constructionshown there is a dividing member 21 in the hopper which material to thetwo screws.

The two screws are similar and, therefore, but one need be described. Asshown in Fig. 5 the screw 28 operates in close proximity to the bottomwall 29 oi hopper 26 and extends outward 55 aids in directing thethrough discharge opening 35 of the hopper. Within this dischargeopening there is a sleeve 3i which extends outward and receives theupper end of a discharge spout Discharge spout. 32 is curved so as todischargedownwardly and as it curves it changes from a circular crosssection to a rectangular cross section, as shown in Fig. 6. The totalcross sectional area of the spout decreases from its receiving end tothe point where it becomes fully rectangular in cross section. Becauseof this decrease in cross section, and also because of the resistance ofthe curved direction-change portion of the spout, the material becomescompacted so that a large portion of the air is pressed out of thematerial and it is packed into a column, as will be more fully explainedlater.

Each screw 28 is mounted upon a drive shaft 33 driven bya gear 34meshing with a gear 35 on a shaft 36 between the two screws. Shaft 36carries a pulley 31 driven by a belt 35, as will be more fully describedlater.

The compacted columns 45 delivered from the two spouts 32 are directeddownward into the weighing device B. This device comprises a container Mmounted upon scale beam 42 having a suitable weight 43 on the other endthereof. Receptacle M is provided with a bottom gate 44 and a cut-offgate 45. This weighing device operates in the well known manner and thedetails thereof form no part of the present invention. It will bereadily understood that when sufficient material has been dischargedinto receptacle 4i and rests upon the bottom thereof the receptaclemoves downward and by means of the controlling devices customary inweighing apparatus bottom gate 44 is swungto its dotted line position inFig. 'l and at the same time cut-off gate 45 is also swung to its dottedline position by link 46a connecting gate 44 with an arm on the pivotshaft of gate 45. When the upper edge of gate 45 is swung to its dottedline position in the direction of arrows 4'! it cuts across column 40,as particularly shown in Fig. 8. The material imthe column is pressed sothat it is of substantially uniform density, and the uniform speed ofthe screw extrudes the column at approximately constant speed. When gate45" moves across the column, it cuts it the short way of the column sothat the cutting occurs very quicklygfilt will be understood that thismovement of "gate 45 necessarily lags slightly behind the time whensufilcient weight has accumulated in the receptacle 46 to cause it tomove downward and initiate the movement of the gate. However, thisinterval is very short. It

will also-be understood that the portion 49 of the column, between thepoint where it is cut off and the accumulated mass 50 in receptacle 4|,has not exerted downward pressure upon the receptacle prior to thecutting off operation, and, therefore, is an unweighed portion of thecharge. In order to obtain a charge of accurate weight, there must be anallowance made for this unweighed addition to the mass which isdischarged by the downward swinging of gate 44. The uniform density andspeed of the column, together with the quick cut-off resulting from theshape of the column, combine to make this nnweighed addition to eachcharge substantially uniform, so that an automatic weighing device ofthis kind can be used with flour and such material and obtain moreaccurate weights than have been possible hitherto with automaticweighing of material of this kind.

per and switch. This hopper 5| has two similar parallel downwardlytapering portions 52 and above the point tapering portions there is aswitch gate 54 pivoted at 55. It will be readily understood that thisgate will direct the weighed charge delivered from the weighingmechanism to one or the other of portions 52 in accordance with itsposition. The front end of pivot shaft 55 is provided with a pointer 56so that the operator standing on the front side'of the machine canreadily see towards which portion 52 the material is being directed. Therear end of shaft 55 is provided with operating mechanism forautomatically switching the gate from one position to the other, whichmechanism will be described later in detail.

The bottom part of each portion 52 is semicylindrical in cross sectionand there fits therein a screw 50 which extends outward through adischarge opening 5| in the bottom of the portion 52. (See Fig. 10.) Inthe boss 52 around opening 6| there is fitted a tapering spout 63 into.the outer small end of which there fits a filling tube 64 adapted toenter the valve of a bag. The end of screw 50 is tapered to fit withinportion 53 and to extend into delivery spout 54. The delivery spout hasits discharge end half cut away on the lower side at 65, and in thedischarge end there is a deflecting member 55. Screw B0 compresses acolumn of material through tapering member 53, and this column isdeflected downward by member 66 and discharged into a bag, the valve'ofwhich is placed over tube 54.

Above screw 60 there is an agitator comprising a shaft 61 having arms58. Shaft 61 extends outward through the rear portion of the hopper andis driven by a sprocket wheel 69. Screw 60 is driven from a shaft 10 onwhich there is a pulley 1|. j

The driving mechanism will be described before the jigger device istaken up in detail.

A motor I5 mounted upon the rear portion of the frame drives ashafthaving a plurality of belt wheels. Two of the belt wheels 16 drive belts11 leading to two pulleys 1| Another belt wheel 18 drives a belt 19which passes over a. pulley on shaft 8|. Another pulley 82 drives a belt83 which passes over a pulley -84 on a shaft85 midwaybetween the twoscrews. Shaft 85 runs through a casing 85 (see Fig. 13) in which theremay be speed producing gearing if desired. Shaft 81 driven by shaft 85carries two sprocket wheels 88 and 89 which drive sprocket chains 90which engage sprocket wheels 59 on the agitating device. Shaft 81likewise carries a sprocket wheel 9| which drives a chain 92 engaging asprocket wheel 93 on the jigging device.

Shaft 8| carries the continuously moving member 95 of a clutch (see Fig.9). Cooperating with this clutch member there is a clutch member 96 on ashaft 91 coaxial with shaft 8|. On the other end of shaft 91 there is abelt wheel 98 which drives belt 38 running over pulley 31 of the scalefeeding device. Clutch 96 is operated by arms 99 engaging a. cone l'llflslidably mounted upon shaft 91. An arm ||i| mounted on a rock shaft I02serves to slide cone I00 longitudinally of shaft 91 and open or closethe clutch. Rock shaft I02 is provided with an arm I03 connected by-alink I04 with an arm M5 on a rock shaft I06. An arm I01 53 between thesedownwardly on rock shaft I00 is connected by a link IIO with an arm I00of a rock shaft I00. Rock shaft I00 carries an arm IIO connected by a,

link III with an operating handleII2 pivoted on a shaft IIO runningacross the machine, where it carries another arm II2. Rock shaft I00 isalso provided with arms II3 connectedby links II4 to'arms I on rockshafts IIB parallel withshaft 81. (See Figs. 11 and 12.)

Shaft 01 also carries a member I of a clutch, and coaxial with shaft 81there is a rotatable member I2I carrying a cooperating clutch member I22and a gear I22. Clutch '"xmember I22 is operated by a pawl I24 normallymoved to clutch closing position by a springI25. A stop I20 is normallyin position to stop pawl I24 and open the clutch. Member I20 is mountedupon a pivot I21 and is operated by a rod I20 which leads to a solenoidI20 (see Figs. 1 and 11). Mounted adiacent stop I20 and pivoted thereonis a member I swung by stationary fork I2I into stopping position whenmember I 20 is moved outward from stopping position, that is, viewingthe parts as shown in Fig. 16, member I20 moves to the left when the topof member I20 moves to the right and vice versa.

Gear I23 is in driving relation with an idler I22 which in turn drives agear I32 on a shaft I44. arm I45 connected by a rod I45 to an arm I51 onthe pivot rod of deflecting gate 54. When crank arm I45 moves rod I40upward, deflecting gate 54 is moved to its full line position as shownin Fig. 3, and, when crank arm I45 is moved downward, the deflectinggate is moved to its dotted line position in Fig. 3. The gearing -is soproportioned that one revolution of member I2I turns shaft I44 through180.

, Shaft I44 also carries a gear I48 which drives an idler gear I40meshingwith a gear I50 on a sleeve I00 in axial alinement with shaft 81.The end of sleeve I00 towards member I2I carries a cam IOI. Slidablymounted below and to each side of sleeve I there are rods I62 and I02which carry arms I04 and I05 connected on their lower ends by a tensionspring I06 and downward from rock shafts IIO, the other ends of whichcarry arms. II5. Rollers I00 and I10 are in position to contact cam IOIwhen not held outward by rollers I01 or I00 respectively.

Each of rods I02 and I03 is connected. as

' indicated in Fig. 17, to a lever I12 having in the other end thereof aslot I12 which in turn is connected to arod I14 which, in theconstruction shown, projects into the path of a bag as the bag is beingplaced on a filling tube. If preferred, this rod may be connected to beactuated by a clamping means which clamps the bag upon the tube. Asshown'in Fig. 21, a bag clamp I5I may be pivoted at I52 in bracket I52,and having an eccentric I54 which may be swung to and from clampingposition by handle I55. A link I55 pivoted at I51 to eccentric I54 andat I50 to rod I14 serves to push back the rod when the clamp is moved toclamping position. A spring I15 normally moves the lever to one extremeposition, as shown in Fig. 17. The parts connected with clutch I22 arestopped by a brake On the end of shaft I44 there is a crankfranie of themachine, so that the iigger casing shoe I10 which is depressed upon abrake wheel I11 by connections I10 from rock shafts IIO when either ofthose shafts are operated to stop the feeding mechanism.

Connected to alink 40 from an arm on the 5 pivot shaft of gate 45 thereis an arm I80 which operates mechanism within a switch box I0-I. Detailsof this switch'are not shown, but it will be readily understood that theswitch is of such construction that connection is made either upon oneoscillation of arm I00, or upon a plurality of oscillationsof arm I00.One construction for this purpose may be securing on arm I80 a pawl I25for operating a ratchet wheel- I30 which has thereon adjustableanddetachable cams I31. .If 15 three weighings are desired to a charge,for example, the cams are so adjusted that one of them will slide pastand temporarily depress-a switch button I28, and thereby close a switch,during each third oscillation of arm I80. Obviously the 20 number andposition of the cams may be adiusted to obtain the desired number ofoscilla- I ticns of arm I80 to each closing of the switch.

On'Fig. 7, there are shown lead lines I02 from twitch box IB I' to thesolenoid I28, previously 25 described. There are also lead lines I88 toa solenoid. I84 connected with the device for operating the jigger, aswill be described below.

.same time cam Iti is turned through one-halfof a revolution and, if therespective push rod I14 on that side of the machine has not beenactuated by placing a bag in position so as to inte'rpose roller I61 orI08, respectively, the roller on the end of arm I1I drops into the cutaway portion of cam I5I and oscillates rod H6 to open clutch 00 throughconnections previously described. However, if rod I 14 has been actuatedto interpos'e the corresponding roller I61 or I08, the actuation of rodIIO does not take place and the feeding shaft continues to operate. Thisis the normal operation of the machine. If for any reason a. bag is notin place at this time, the feeding device will stop until a bag is putin position and the connected handle H2 is actuated to close clutch 00.v

' The jigging device is mounted in a casing I85 which slides verticallyupon a column I80 and may be elevated or lowered with respect to thecolumn by means of a screw I81. In this way, the entire jiggingmechanism is bodily raised or lowered to properly adjust it' to bags ofthe length which are being filled.

Sprocket chain 02, as previously described, drives a sprocket wheel 02on a-stub shaft I88 mounted in an arm I80, which is pivoted on a shaftI00 mounted in casing I85. Shafts I00 and I00 are maintained in drivingconnection by a gear, train IOI, including a gear on;each shaft. and anidlergear meshing with bothrwhich turns the two. shafts in the samedirection. A rod I02 is pivoted on stubshaft I80 and has its upperendconnected to a suitable part of the may be raised and lowered withoutdisturbing the drlvingconn'ection of shaft I00. (See Fig; 2.) On shaftI00 within the casing (see Fig. 19) there is a gear I02 which mesheswith a larger gear I94 on a shaft H95, the other end of which carries aclutch member 596. On a shaft IS! in line with shaft I there is acooperating clutch member i 98. This is a one-revolution clutch similarto clutch H22 described above. It is provided with a pawl 699 whichopens and closes the clutch, the clutch being opened when the pawlcontacts stop member 220 or 22E actuated by an arm 202 connected by alink 203 to an arm 204 on a rock shaft 205. An arm 2% on rock shaft 205is connected by a link 29'! to solenoid I84. By this means shaft 891 isturned through one revolution when solenoid 884 is actuated by the scalemechanism in the manner,

previously described.

Mounted in front of casing 985, there are stationary pivots 208 and 222on which there are fulcrumed respectively parallel levers 2m and 2. Onthe ends of lever 2m there are fulcrumed bell crank levers 252 and 203,the substantially horizontal arms of which are pivoted to the lower endsof supports 2M and 265 of bag jigging members 286 and 2H. The upper endsof supports 2% and 2%) are connected by similar links2i8 to the ends oflever 26 l. The substantially vertical arms of bell crank levers H2 and2&3 are connected by links 259 and 222 to the lower ends of cam levers226 and 222. The upper ends of levers 220 and 222 carry rollers 223 and224 which, when elevated, are adapted to contact an eccentric 225 on ashaft 226, which is driven by gearing 222 from shaft 11%. Above shaft2265 there is a shaft 228 connected by gearing 229 with shaft 597, thegearing being of such ratio that shaft 228 makes one-half of onerevolution to a complete revolution of shaft i917. On the end of shaft222 there is a crank 230 connected by a link 23!! with lever 2i [1.

Viewing Fig. 20, it will be seen that when crank arm 232 is movedthrough from its position in that figure, bag support or jigger 2H6 willbe lowered and 2H will be raised. It will also be apparent from Fig. 20that when either bag support is raised the corresponding roller 223 or224 is positioned so that it will be actuated by eccentric 225. For thisreason, the support will be moved up and down by the rocking of theconnected bell crank lever 202 or 2H3, respectively. As will be readilyrecognized from the drawings, the bag supports are concave, if viewed inthe cross-section in a plane parallel with that of Fig. 20, while ifviewed in a plane parallel with that of Fig. 1, they are convex.

By this construction of the support the bag is lifted in the middleportion and the corners are allowed to drop down. This fills out thecorners of the bags, which is particularly important where the bag isprovided with a gusset fold, as this insures proper opening of thegusset at the corner of the bag and the correct shaping of the end ofthe bag.

Driven from shaft 890 by suitable gearing 232, there is a shaft 233 nearthe bottom of the easing, which carries a sprocket chain 2% which runsaround a sprocket wheel 225 near the top of the casing. This is for thepurpose of ensuringthe circulation of oil in the casing and improvingthe greasing operation.

The operation of the device has been described in connection with thedescription of the various parts, but, for convenience, may besummarized as follows:

Material fed into the hopper 26 through spout 25 is discharged by screws28 through spouts 82 in the form of compressed ribbons 40. When sumcientweight has been discharged into the one of the downward extensions 52,and from thence is driven outward by the screw into the bag upon thefilling tube. Ordinarily, the ribbons will be broken up completely byfalling into the scale and from thence into the hopper, but if anycompacted portions should remain they are broken up by the agitatorabove the screw. However, the material is still in a somewhatconsolidated condition, and it is further compressed by the tapered endof the discharging screw, so that it is delivered to the bag with a.minmum of surplus air therein, whereby a given weight may be driven intoa bag of minimum size.

The ribbons may be compressed to such a degree as to substantiallymaintain their form against the action of gravity, until jarred, so thatwhen out oii, as indicated in Fig. '8, there is substantially a squarecut across the column and the column retains a substantially ribbonlikeform. Similarly the compressed column discharged into the bag maymaintain its form to a certain extent. However, ordinarily it iscompletely disintegrated by dropping into the bag. The mechanism is soarranged that the bag jigging support is raised slightly after thedischarge starts from the screw, which is constantly rotating anddischarges material the instant that any is dropped thereupon. Thejigger is raised so that it contacts the bottom of the bag and insuresthe proper opening up of the bottom of the bag and the packing ofmaterial therein in a manner which will be readily understood.

Ordinarily the filled bag is removed from the filling tube and anotherbag is placed thereon while a bag is being filled on the other fillingtube, so that, before the deflecting gate is switched back, there is abag on the filling tube ready to receive material. Under suchcircumstances, rod in is actuated to prevent the opening of the clutchdriving the feeding screw. This clutch may be opened at any time by handlever M2. If a bag is not in position on the filling tube when thecharge to the other bag has been completely weighed. the energizing ofthe solenoid results in automatic opening of the clutch and stopping ofthe screws feeding material to the scale. Under such circumstances, theweighing part of the mechanism remains idle until the lever H2 isactuated to close the clutch, whereupon the normal operation of thedevice is continued.

It will be seen from the'above that we have constructed a mechanismwhich will weigh out What we claim is:

1. The method of dividing out a charge of compactible powdery materialsuch as flour,

crumbled portion reaches a predetermined amount, and dropping the columnbelow the cutting point into the crimibled portion to complete a charge.

2. The method of dividing out a charge of compactible powdery materialsuch vas flour, which consists in compacting the material and feeding itdownward. in a ribbon-like column that retains its form while being fedbut is readily disintegrated into its original powdery condition,stopping the lower end of the column at a predetermined point, crumblingthe column as it is stopped, weighing the crumbled portion, cutting thecolumn across its thinnest dimension a predetermined distance above saidstopping point when the weight of the crumbled portion reaches apredetermined amount, and; dropping the column below the cutting pointinto the crumbled portion to complete a charge.

3. Apparatus for forming weighed charges of compactible powdery materialsuch as fiour, which comprises a weighing device, means, comprising ascrew conveyor having an outlet broader one way and narrower the otherthan the screw, for compacting the material into a ribhon-shaped columnand feeding it to said device, and means responsive to said weighingdevice for cutting across the thin way of the col- .umn in response toweight of material fed thereting the columnacross its thinnest dimensionapredetermined distance above said stopping point when the weight of thecrumbled portion reaches a predetermined amount, dropping the columnbelow the cutting point into the crumbled portion to Iorm a charge,completing disintegration of the charge into its original powderycondition, but containing less air, re-,

compacting the charge into a column approximating th cross section ofthe valve 0! a bag, feeding the column into a valve bag through itsvalve opening, and again disintegrating the charge within the bag.

5. A valve bag filling apparatuscomprising a weighing device, areceptacle, 9. spout for delivering material from the receptacle to theweighing device, said spout having a horizontal receiving end witli acircular opening into said receptacle and a vertical discharge end withan elongated opening above the weighing device,

'means 'ior continuously iorcing material from the receptacle throughsaid spout, means tor cutting the material below said spout across thenarrow dimension or said spout, a hopper below the weighing device,means for dumping charge. from.- the weighing device into the hopper,and means for discharging material from the hopper into a valve bag.

6. A valve bag filling apparatus comprising a weighing device, means tocompact material into a ribbon-shaped column and feed it to the weighingdevice, means actuated by the weighing device for cutting oil the columnof material across the narrow way of the column, a hopper, means fordumping the weighed material into the hopper, an agitator in the hopper,a delivery spout extending horizontally from the lower part of thehopper and adapted to enter the valve of a bag, and means beneath saidagitator for driving material intov said delivery spout.

7. A valve bag filling apparatus comprising a weighing device, means tocompact a column of material and i'eed it to the weighing device, a stopfor said compacting and feeding means, means for actuating said stop bythe weighing device, after a predetermined number of weighings, meansactuated by the weighing device for cutting off the column of material,a hopper, means for dumping the material into the hopper, a deliveryspout extending horizontally from the lower part of the hopper andadapted to enter the valve of a bag, means for driving material fromsaidhopper into said delivery spout, and means actuated upon the placingof a bag upon the filling spout for rendering said stop ineffective.

8. Apparatus for filling valve bags, comprising a self-dumping weighingdevice, means to feed material to said device, two bag-filling machines,each having a hopper, a switch adapted to guide material dumped' by theweighing device into one or the other of said hoppers and meansactuating said switch to guide material to the other hopper after ithasremained in position to guide material to one hopper while apredetermined number of charges were being dumped.

9. Apparatus in accordance with claim 8, in which the last said meanscomprises an electrical operating device, an electric switch, and meansactuated bya predetermined number of delivering movements of theweighing device to operate said electric switch.

10.-Apparatus in accordance with claim 8, in.

which the last said means comprises an electrical operating device, anelectric switch, means actuated by a predetermined number of deliveringmovements of the weighing device to operate said electric switch, andmeans operable by said electric switch for stopping the feed to saidweighing device.

11. In bag filling apparatus, two filling spouts, means for holding bagsin receiving relation to said spouts, and a jiggi device comprisingcontact members positioned beneath said spouts, parallel link mechanismconnecting said contact members and pivoted midway between them, meansfor oscillating said parallel links to raise the contact membersalternately, and means for imparting comparatively short verticalmovements to the contact member which is raised.

12. Apparatus in accordance with claim 21 and in which the last saidmeans comprises a constantly rotating cam midway between saidcbntactvmembers and connections from each of said contact membersbearing a cam roller on its end towards said cam and coming in contactwith said cam when the. contact member is raised by the parallel linlimechanism.

13. Apparatus in accordance with claim 11 and in which the contactmember is concave in a cross section substantially at right angles witha plane parallel with the filling spout thereabove, and is convex in across section substantially parallel with the filling spout thereabove.

14. "The method of filling a valve bag with compactible or powderymaterial such as flour which normally entraps large amounts of air inits loose condition, which consists in compacting the material,thereafter breaking it up, allowing the air to escape, thenre-compacting it into a stream approximately the cross-section of thevalve and passing the compacted stream through the valve into the bag toflll the same.

, 15. The method of weighing out charges and filling valve bags withcompactible powdery material such as flour, which consists in compactingthe material into a column, feeding the column downward, stopping thelower end of the column at a predetermined point and thereby crumblingthe end of the column, weighing the crumbled portion, cutting 01! thecolumn at a predetermined distance from said stopping point when theweight of the crumbled portion reaches a predetermined amount, allowingthe cut of! end of the column to fall into the previously weighedportion to form a charge, dropping the charge below said stopping point.disintegrating the dropped charge into its original powdery condition,but containing less air than originally, recompacting it into a streamapproximately the cross section of the valve of a bag and passing saidrecompacted stream through the valve into a bag and thereby placing theweighed and twice compacted charge in the bag.

ESLI A. MARSH. ALFRED' MAX SCHLAEGEL. 20

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,051,565.

August 18, 1936.

ESLI A. MARSH, ET AL.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Page 5, second column, line 68, claim 12, for the claim referencenumeral "21" read 11; and

that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction thereinthat the same may conform to the record of the case in the PatentOffice.

Signed and sealed this 13th day of October, A. D. 1936.

Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) Acting Commissione o Patents.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,051,565. August 18, 1936.

ESLI A. MARSH, ET .AL.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 5,second column, line 68, claim 12, for the claim reference numeral "21"read 11; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with thiscorrection therein that the same may conform to the record of the casein the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 13th day of October, A. D. 1936.

Henry Van .Arsdale (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents

